Questions
How Can Christians Prepare Themselves Today?
Summary: Preparation begins with repentance for patterns of digital formation that have traded contemplation for consumption, flows into reorientation through Sabbath and embodied practices, and matures into wisdom capable of responding faithfully to technological changes we cannot yet predict.
Preparation begins with repentance—an honest reckoning with how deeply the patterns of the digital world have shaped us. We must acknowledge the ways we have traded contemplation for consumption, communion for connectivity, and spiritual depth for digital visibility. Repentance is not simply about rejecting technology but about turning from misplaced trust. It is a reordering of loves, a conscious movement from the immediacy of the digital toward the enduring reality of God.
From repentance flows reorientation. Christians must recover rhythms that root them in God’s time rather than the tyranny of the urgent. This might include Sabbath from screens, daily prayer before digital engagement, or fasting from media that feeds envy, anger, or anxiety. These practices are countercultural—they interrupt the constant motion of the digital world and train us to wait, listen, and respond rather than react. Formation happens through such interruptions.
Embodiment is another crucial dimension. The digital realm tempts us to live as disembodied minds curating experiences rather than living lives. We prepare ourselves by re-engaging the physical: sharing meals, serving neighbors, worshiping in person, and delighting in creation. These embodied acts remind us that grace is not abstract but incarnational. Christ came in the flesh, and our discipleship must remain grounded in flesh-and-blood reality.
Finally, preparation involves cultivating wisdom. We cannot predict every technological shift, but we can become the kind of people who respond to change faithfully. That requires learning to see the world sacramentally—to recognize God’s presence and purposes in every sphere, including the digital. Preparation is not about escape but about readiness. The question is not whether we will inhabit the digital world, but whether we will do so as its disciples or as disciples of Jesus within it.
Key Takeaways: Repentance, Reorientation, Embodiment, Wisdom
- Repentance First: Honest reckoning with how contemplation has been traded for consumption and communion for connectivity.
- Reorientation Through Sabbath: Sabbath from screens, daily prayer before digital engagement, fasting from media that feeds envy or anxiety—countercultural rhythms.
- Embodiment: Shared meals, in-person worship, serving neighbors, delighting in creation—grounding discipleship in incarnational reality.
- The “So What”: The question is not whether we inhabit the digital world, but whether we do so as its disciples or as disciples of Jesus within it.
About the Author — James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He serves as President of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program, and as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Christianity.com, and Sojourners; he has been quoted in The Telegraph; and he is a regular guest on Stand in the Gap Today with the American Pastors Network. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press, Fall 2026). Learn more at jamesgspencer.com.